It turns out that Alex Ferguson was correct about Aston Villa all along.
Unai Emery’s team defeated Manchester City on Wednesday night to climb up to third in the Premier League.
Leon Bailey’s second-half goal extended Villa’s home winning streak to 14 games, a new club record.
Their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United on the opening day seems a lifetime ago now, and in the midst of their excellent form, former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s words on the West Midlands team have resurfaced.
While many were quick to dismiss the Villains, Ferguson predicted that they would perform as well as they are today – on the first day of the season – despite having just witnessed them lose by four goals.
“To be honest with you, I watched Aston Villa and I can’t believe the scoreline,” he told NBC Sports after the game. Aston Villa played wonderful football and only lost due to terrible goals.
“Newcastle will be very difficult to beat, especially at home, and their manager has done an excellent job there.”
“It’s a strange game, football. Aston Villa proved that you can play teams off the pitch and not score.”
It seems that more are taking notice of Emery’s side too, with Pep Guardiola admitting that Villa are in the title race.
“Yes, definitely. For the way they are playing, their physicality, their speed, the bench, Unai Emery, their mid-block, set-pieces. Definitely,” he said.
Emery took over at Villa in November 2022 having built up a stacked CV at top European clubs such as Sevilla, Villareal and PSG. He won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla, another with Villareal and also won the Ligue 1 title with the Parisians
He wasn’t as successful during his previous stint in England, when he led Arsenal to fifth place in the 2018/2019 season. But now, 15 games into the season, he has Villa playing some fantastic football, sitting comfortably in third place, just four points off the top.
Leave a Reply